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The boys basketball team’s magical playoff run is over.

In a game the Vikings were never really in, the Meade Mustangs rode strong guard play to a wire-to-wire 61-35 victory. The game did have its share of drama, though.

Late in the second quarter, with Meade holding a commanding lead, guard Shaq Diboti-Lobe got tangled up with Mustang forward William Huff. With Huff on the ground, Diboti-Lobe tried to shake him off, which the officials deemed an intentional kick. Tempers flared on both sides after the altercation, and the officials decided to assess Meade forward Jerrel Elder a technical foul for a push and eject Diboti-Lobe from the game.

“What the referees told me was it was an extended leg, a kick motion,” head coach Christopher Lun said at the post-game press conference. “It’s unfortunate. [Diboti-Lobe] is a great kid. It’s not who he is. He’s as remorseful as you can be.”

But even before the ejection, the Viking offense never got going. With Meade keying on Diboti-Lobe early on, the Vikes struggled to make shots: Whitman shot 4-24 from the field and 7-14 from the free throw line in the first half.

Meade made a concerted effort to contain Diboti-Lobe from the opening tip-off, shading their defense toward him throughout the first quarter.

“[Meade] pressed up their 2-3, so that took away our shooters,” forward George Wilson said. “Our shots just weren’t falling.”

Despite the Diboti-Lobe ejection and poor shooting, Whitman only trailed by 13 at halftime.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but we felt like we could hang around. But again, we just didn’t play well enough to win and they did. They were better,” Lun said.

The Mustang guards controlled the pace throughout the game, which made it difficult for the Vikings to get in any sort of rhythm offensively. Meade standout Tristan Easton led the Mustangs with 13 points, with many coming early in the game.

Wilson led the Vikes with nine points, and guard Jack McClelland added six points and seven rebounds.

The Vikings finish the season 17-10 overall with their second state semifinal appearance in three years.